


Life of a Minds Eye

by Technically_Artist



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Fiction, Gen, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2019-12-29 17:12:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18298622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Technically_Artist/pseuds/Technically_Artist
Summary: A young man is leaving school ready to go to college, ready for the next step in his life.Before he leaves though, one thing has to be done.Just as he takes this final step, everything stops and he finds himself in a strange place with even stranger people.





	1. Prologue: Ends and Beginnings

It’s a sunny day.  
The sky is a clear blue nearly unobstructed save a couple of long stretched clouds.  
It is the summer season and school is coming to an end.  
Sadly enough, I’m about to ruin someone’s day, a break up is never a good experience for either side. Of course, what happens because of it can be great, but that’s probably me trying to justify what I am about to do.  
I’m standing just outside of the school doors, barely in the cool shade it provides.  
Over the past few days temperatures have been getting especially high.   
Something about a heat wave so that is just great.  
There she is. She smiles as she sees me and she starts to approach me.  
As she does I try to bargain with myself once more “maybe it can work out”, “she’s trying as hard as I am”. Yet all of them are struck down with hard truths “She never has time for you”, “you won’t every be seeing her again” and just as I try to come up with more reasons to stop myself she stops right in front of me.  
“I can’t believe the year is over, it’s like we started last week! We’re also just done with school now? it’s just kind of hard to grasp isn’t it.”. She sounds excited, we’d both be heading to another school after the holiday and just thinking of it was enough to make anyone in our year tear up or jump from excitement. The thought of starting anew, leaving friends and making new ones.  
After a short pause I bring myself to answer, “Yeah, this year really flew by didn’t it. It really is something”. Again, a brief silence, this time broken by her “Hey, are you okay? You’ve been acting a bit weird. Anything going on?”. Trying my best to look her in the eyes I think to myself that this is probably the best opportunity I’ll be getting so I scrape together all the courage I have and say it. “Yeah, not really. So, I’ve been thinking. Since we don’t really do anything together anymore, I feel like I’ve been the only one putting energy into this.” It’s like every word weighs on me, she stares at me, tears slowly welling up in her eyes. Already regretting my actions I continue,   
“And, since we’ll both be going to other schools I thought it uh..”.   
I want to continue but notice she isn’t listening.  
Where before her eyes were slowly filling with tears they are now opened wide looking at me. Her face painted with a horrified expression. Of course I don’t know how to react, so I bluntly ask her what she’s looking at and she can only utter three words. “Your. Eyes. They” just as she wants to give the final hint as to what is frightening her this much she stops.  
It feels like an insult, first I try to speak up and now this? I feel my own eyes grow wet and I reply “What? Can’t you even just tell me what is wrong?”.  
But, as I make my way through those words I slow down and look around. Something seems off, feels off. The voices surrounding me, the wind pushing away the leaves and even the sound of feet echoing through the courtyard as they hit the ground. Gone. I turn my head and suddenly notice, nothing is moving.  
Slowly stepping out of the shadows the school provided I start to walk around.   
Amazed I look at someone caught mid-fall. Books that are stuck mid-air as they are thrown away to free their hands. Ready to brace for impact.  
Just as I go to touch one of the books to see if I am dreaming.  
There is a voice. Coming from all around me, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you”.  
As a reflex I try to turn around and pinpoint the source. But nothing looks different.  
Everyone is still in the exact same spot.  
“Don’t bother trying to find me, I’m not actually here”, that voice again.  
This time, I could almost hear a slight chuckle.  
I try to come up with some witty remark but I’m still baffled by the whole thing.  
Still, I open my mouth to ask what is going on. No words?  
Confused I stop moving and try to talk again. Nothing. Tears start to well up again with feelings of frustration and fear as I try to scream, but no sound comes out.  
The voice is heard once again, “Hey, take it easy, I’m not actually talking to you. Again, I’m not here” a sigh echoes as the voice continues “Why don’t you try something for me and look to your left”.  
Without thinking I look to my left to find something I did not expect to see there.  
A bright light almost blinds me. It’s like a terrifying darkness that is somehow shining brighter than the sun. Inside it, I can barely distinguish a figure reaching out their hand.  
Instinctively, I start moving towards the light and try to grab the hand.  
It seems impossible, every time I reach it seems to be just a bit farther away and just as I get it, everything turns dark.  
With a gasp I wake up. I’m in my bed, it’s morning.  
“Damn, it has been a while since I had a dream that bad”. Relieved I lie back down.  
A familiar feeling starts welling up again, something is off.  
Confused I look around trying to find what is out of place.  
I can’t place it, I get up and start walking around my room.  
“Was everything always this fuzzy?”. Everything seems to have a weird blur around it.  
As I say the words I feel a weird buzz. Like there’s clouds in my mind.  
I run towards the window and try to look outside, still, that weird fuzzy border.  
Afraid something bad is happening I start rushing towards the bedroom door to check if everyone else is okay. Aggressively I swing open the door and try to run outside as I slip over some clothing on the ground  
With a gasp I wake up. I’m in my bed, it’s morning.  
“Damn, it has been a while since I had a dream that bad”. Relieved I lie back down.  
As I close my eyes to get some more sleep I shoot back up.  
“Why is this so familiar? Was it the dream?”.  
This time even more confused, I look around trying to find something to ground me to reality.  
It feels like this happened before. Is this just a deja vu?  
I get up and look around to find what is different, not really sure what I’m looking for, just a sign of change or a sign of this being real. “Was everything always this fuzzy?” I barely finish my sentence as I catch my head feeling clouded.  
Everything seems to be blurred. Not by much, but just enough to notice.  
Suddenly it hits me, “Fuck, something might have happened whilst I was asleep”.  
Afraid of what I might find I run towards the bedroom door to rush downstairs.  
Just as I am about to reach the bottom, the carpet catches my foot launching me face first towards the ground.  
With a gasp I wake up. I’m in my bed, it’s morning.  
“Damn, it’s been a while since...”. I pause and raise an eyebrow “wait, no it hasn’t”.  
Out of nowhere, I feel anger starting to overtake any other emotions.  
The fact that the source is unknown makes it even worse.  
“What the fuck is this??!!” Like a maniac I start shouting, demanding answers from something.  
“Why is everything so fuzzy? What is this?” frustrated I barge towards the window to check if the outside is also blurred like this. Like inside, the outside also has a faint glow around it, making everything appear blurred.  
Then it hits me.  
“This isn’t right, I’m dreaming.” I start grinning as I look at my hand.  
“If it’s a dream, this won’t be a problem”.  
With a slight bit of hesitation I raise my arm and punch through the window.   
It hurts, god it hurts, it sure wasn’t a dream.  
A sharp pain makes me tear up again and reflectively pull back.  
As the glass shatters I now can see a person behind it.  
Two people actually. One covering their face with their hand and the other, what looks like a man, hunched over, laughing loudly.  
I try to call out to them, but the pain gets to me before anything comes out. Overwhelmed, everything goes dark again as I faint.


	2. A door opens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding himself in a strange place Leo is introduced to Barry who introduces him to the organization he works for.

Everything is still dark, I feel a sharp pain in my knuckles and face. My eyes are still closed, but somehow it is like I am outsider. Around me I feel an endless void with stars scattered across it. In front of me, something blocks out the stars. A gentle voice "hey, get up" with an arm stretched out to me. The starry sky fades as quickly as it appeared as I open up my eyes.   
Immediately the source of the pain becomes clear, I'm right where I landed after the punch:   
face down in a pile of glass. Instinctively I try to push myself out, but as I do so, my hand starts burning.  "Right, I punched the glass" I mumble as I turn onto my back. This is when I notice the man from before squatting next to me. Still grinning like before.    
"Can you please call an ambulance? I think I need medical attention." Before answering, the man interrupts "Don't worry by that, I got that covered". From behind him, he grabs a small box. Eagerly I try to see what is in it as he opens it up, revealing something that looks like a sci-fi shower head.   
"Please close your eyes, and uh, this might sting a bit". Still mildly shocked, I close my eyes. What feels like a needle pricks my shoulder, followed by what I assume is the device making some noise. A mute "ding" of approval can be heard from the thing and I feel a mist on my face followed by the same sensation on my hand.  
"Okay, this is where the punch comes in" before he even finishes his sentence, both face and hand feel like they are on fire. The urge to start screaming is overwhelming. Just as I am about to let out a shout, the pain fades, just as fast as it appeared.   
Within seconds the pain subsides and I hear the man give me the okay sign for opening my eyes. Immediately I inspect my hand and feel around my face. It feels smoother?  
"Brand new! These skin-sprays sure do work wonders am I right" the man comments.   
"Well, be damned, how rude of me, I know you're Leo, but I never introduced myself!" With a puzzled look I stare at him as I think "he knows my name?" before he continues.   
"I'm Barry, an interested party if you will. I've been watching for a while and finally decided to call you in! Well, drag you in really".  "Why? Am I under arrest?" I ask. With a chuckle Barry replies "Oh no, definitely not. Quite the contrary actually. You know what, why don't we get out of this place. Walk over to my office so we can discuss whats going on?". Still hesitant I ask once more "So no arresting or kidnapping of any kind?" "Oh god no, when we're done talking you can go home as you like".  
After a brief pause of going over my options, I agree to walk along. Almost unnoticeable, Barry looks relieved before holding out his hand to help me up. Whilst getting up on my feet, I finally look around. The room we're in isn't too interesting. A few chairs and a table with a computer. All pointed to what used to be the mirror.

Looking through the me-shaped hole, I see what looked like my room: A now completely white space with white furniture set up to be shaped like my room.  
I frown, "Where did the colours go?" I mumble as I inspect the room further.  
From behind me, Barry answers "They were a projection, a normal person can't see through them. You on the other hand, caught on pretty fast. Only took you a few tries".  
As I turn my head back to what used to be a copy of my room, it hits me: this is really happening. The glass crunching under my boots, the lights of that room slowly dimming and the man behind me. It's all real. Another realization, where do my parents think I am? I haven't called them or anything. Seeing the panic arising within me, Barry walks up to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, we told your parents you'd be joining us for a party or something. Especially the or something part we were insistent on."  
"But, you're a stranger who told them that? That sounds pretty suspicious to me". Barry laughs and nods "It would be, if it weren't you who told them, which is what happened. So no worries! And again, I'll explain everything as we move to my office".  
Not sure what he meant but eager for more information I again decide to move along for now.  
We move towards the exit of the room and I walk outside into a long hallway as Barry follows and closes the door. Above us, a red light now turns green. Looking around, there's a lot of doors with these lights above them. A most of them green, a few red.   
"I am not the only one? What is it you guys do here?".  
"That's a good place to start I suppose. No you aren't the only one, as an organization we take interest in a lot of people. Right now, most rooms aren't occupied by someone like you though. These are usually interrogation rooms. Occasionally they are good for this stuff as well!".  
I'm not sure what he meant by that, people like me, what is that supposed to mean, does this place capture just out of high school students on the regular? I try to not look too confused as I continue listening to his explanation.  
"Alright, so I should say, right now, I can not answer all your questions. As I'm guessing you have a few. To start off, what is this place? Or rather, who. Me and the lady you saw before, are part of an organization called "the federation of the eye".   
The mission statement of this organization is to gather up people like you and me and use them, to protect this world".   
It's like I'm in a movie. Federation of the eye, protecting the world. This guy seems serious about the whole thing too, how can you keep a straight face saying this?  
Jokingly I ask "So, does that make you secret agents or something?" I expect a laugh or something like it as a response, but instead Barry answers "to a degree, yeah".   
I don't know what I should be feeling. That reality I felt before is fading with every word coming out of Barry's mouth. Spies, secret organizations, 'people like me'; not knowing how to answer, I stay silent.   
Barry continues "That room you were just in, is one of the tools we employ to do our job. It allows us to replicate almost any indoor environment and to a certain degree, outside as well". It looks like he is waiting for me to say something. What is there to say?   
There's clearly something he's not telling me. At this point, what could he be hiding.   
He's a spy with a secret organization, it's anyone's guess what this additional secret could be. As to not let the conversation come to a halt, I try asking something anyway:  
"If that room is for interrogation, shouldn't it be a solid replication? Why was everything so fuzzy? It gave me a headache having my eyes open".  
The 'secret agent' frowns, it's almost like he has problems coming up with an answer.  
When he looks up he smiles. There's an enormous door in front of us. I look around me, I completely forgot we were walking. As he walks up to a panel near the side of the door, he answers me "all of that will become clear very soon. For now though," he pauses as he pushes a button opening the door.  
"Welcome to Federation headquarters".   
As the door opens a bright light shines in through the now growing opening blinding me with every beam coming through.

When my eyes adjust to the bright light I can see what the doors were protecting. A vast hall stretches further than I can see. Trees cover the center providing shade from the glass roof serving as a ceiling to this enormous structure.  
On the sides, the walls are covered by windows and long strips of walkways giving access to doors on higher floors. Through the air, drones fly around carrying things from place to place and on the ground people are going about their daily lives.  
Mouth agape and stunned by the beautiful scene I can not say anything else then "wow".  
Barry walks though the gate and gestures me to follow.  
"Sorry about the blinding light, its something that affects only unregistered guests. We use it as a defense of sorts. Blinding the enemy or something like that. I just really like the cool factor it gives this place". Still looking around I nod to whatever Barry just said.   
There's so much to see.  
Again we start walking and Barry continues his self initiated Q and A. As we walk the final stretch to Barry's office. Up close I can better see what covers the walls of the great hall. On the ground floor several doors give access to upper levels as well as various stores? Clothing, tools, food. Whilst looking at these storefronts I pick up some more chatter from Barry.  
"Since some people of the people that work here, also live here, various stores and daily necessities were added to this hall making life here more comfortable and easier".  
Hearing this line, gives me a bad feeling about this place. Why would you live where you work? Sure, this place looks awesome but not leaving this place ever?  
Looking up I start taking note of the higher floors. Most of these seem to be either offices and what looks like the occasional apartment.  
I refocus on the conversation when I notice our path changing.  
"Alright, we're almost there, it's just an elevator up to my place from here".  
We're walking up to one of the walls where a cylindrical tube lines the wall. Though it I see the carriage rushing downwards until the door opens. With a short and swift elevator ride and few steps to the office later we are now inside Barry's office.

The room we're in is spacious. One section is set up as an office area: a few chairs, a desk, what looks like a computer and a few file cabinets. Another area seems to be a more casual space. Lined with a comfortable looking couch and some armchairs. Finally, a large open space in the center in the corner, a weapon rack holding some training swords of various sizes.  
As we sit down in the office area I comment on the room "Nice place you got here. A lot better than the room we were in before anyway".  
"Different user different outcome! You could say I have a more refined taste than the one who designed the interrogation room" he replies whilst grabbing a few documents out of a cabinet.  
When he sits and turns his attention to me, he suddenly gets serious.  
"Jokes aside, it's time to explain what you are. When you were at your school this afternoon you did something that caused you a severe emotional distress"  
"Damn breakup, ruining my day" I mumble. "Right, a breakup is a common cause. But don't worry, this is definitely a good thing. It awakened your ability".  
There he goes with his 'ability' spiel. Before thinking about it I start ranting.  
"You've been saying that I have an 'ability' talking about 'people like me'. What does that mean? This is quite literally the strangest thing to happen to me ever. Please do tell  
why I am so 'different'. I'm just some guy, nothing special to see here. Thinking about it, you haven't even explained why the hell time stood still or something. Please do get to all that quick or otherwise I'd like to leave".  
Whilst berating the man in front of me, I failed to notice that I stood up and am practically shouting down on him. Embarrassed I sit down again.  
"It's been a long day, please just get to the point".  
Barry puts on an empathetic smile and continues talking.  
"Alright, lets get to it then. Today, you put yourself in emotional distress causing an ability to awaken. This ability is called Minds Eye. It is an ability stemming from physical changes inside of you. Mainly, the presence of some extra organs and an ability to control the energies around you". He pauses to let me take everything in  
I have no clue what to think. Did this guy just tell me I have magic powers?  
Am I really not in some comedy show. It sure feels like it.  
Dumbfound by the knowledge and trying to process it I stay silent whilst Barry continues.  
"So, going back to earlier today, when you stopped time. What actually happened is that your brain went into overdrive. Instead of everyone else slowing down it was you speeding up. Hence why I didn't want you touching anything. It would have send it flying". For some reason this is the first thing he said in this office that makes sense. Going fast can send a slow thing flying. That I understand.  That said, sure, I've heard about those panic moments where a person can start thinking faster. But to this degree? Having even a slight idea of what is going on I decide to ask some more. "Okay, this is probably a common question. But can you prove this? This all sounds like some very elaborate prank. Really really elaborate. But a potentially amazing prank regardless. From all your explanation I can only gather that I wouldn't be the only person to have this ability and that you have it as well. So, really the question is, can you do a magic trick?"  
Barry laughs, the tension that had filled the room leaves as it is pushed away by the sounds of laughter. "You know what, sure, I'll do a 'magic trick'. Common, lets do a demonstration".  
He stands up and moves to the center of the room gesturing me to come over. With both of us standing in the open center I ask what is going to happen. Barry answers briefly.  
"I want you to just keep track of me as I walk behind you".  
That's not too hard. Just keep my eyes on him. As I think that, I realize that he isn't in front of me. I jump up as I feel a tap on my shoulder. Barry is standing behind me, grinning.   
"You having trouble there? Just follow me."  
This time I get a glimpse of what happens. Just before disappearing from my sight, I see his eyes turn yellow as he appears behind me again. The eyes. They lit up. An epiphany hits me:   
"That's what she was talking about! My eyes!! Did this happen to me as well earlier? What colour do I have?".  
Without even realizing it Barry already sat down. I'm talking to thin air.  
From the office space he speaks up. "Yup, your eyes definitely lit up. I think they were green." With a mixture of relief and excitement I walk back to the desk and sit down once again. The first thought to hit me as I sit down: "Magic is real. I can do magic".  
Apparently I said this out loud because Barry responds with an audible chuckle.  
"Technically it isn't magic, it's something that can be explained. A real thing based on science. Which leads me into the question I've been meaning to ask". With the brief pause between sentences Barry turns serious again. "These abilities are hard to learn on your own, let alone master. Because of this the organization set up a school to do so."  
Even though he hasn't asked yet I know exactly what he is about to ask me.  
Something amazing and frightening all at once. But I still know what the question is.  
"Will you accept the challenge of learning about yourself and your ability?  
Will you accept the challenge from the school of the eye?".


End file.
